Arthur's Point of View

Depths of the Hollow Forest

Marina smiled. “That’s not the question you want to ask.” She replied. “You want to know if I can do it for someone else, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Can you?”

“Yes. Bring her to me, and I will heal her.” She swam to the side of the lake, and rested her arms on the grass. “Your companions are on the other side of the wall with Rock. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

A tired sigh escaped my lips. “It’s been a long few months.”

“Of that, I have no doubt. At least I was able to remove all the poison. Are your thoughts more organized now? Parts of your brain were starting to rot.”

“Jesus.” I let out in surprise. “Yes. Thank you again. It seems as though I even got some of my energy back.” I then eyed her as she smirked as rested her chin on her arms. “Another gift from you, I presume?”

“Well, you did create me. It’d be weird if I couldn’t give you some energy.” Marina answered. “I would like to add that you need rest. Parts of your body were undergoing necrosis. Even bits of your brain. If you weren’t you, well, you’d be dead.”

That was surprising to hear. Necrosis was serious, but I was more shocked to realize she could identify it. Such skill was far beyond any healing capabilities that I knew of here. They might be able to heal something like that with magic, though I wasn’t positive.

“I’ll rest when I get back. Maybe.” I added, which got her to snort in amusement. “There are some important matters to deal with, but I need your help right now.” My tone got her smirk to fade as she nodded in understanding.

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Moving toward the trees, they separated into a doorway of sorts. On the other side almost looked like a quarry. Except for those who stood their dumbfounded when they saw me, it was baren. Rock was present, and he seemed to vibrate in excitement to see me. Walking through the area, I stopped by Rock and placed my hand on one of his arms.

Looking up at him, I spoke. “Thanks.” He started to bounce in place, which was rather unsettling, but also somewhat amusing. “Now I need to grab Lucia.” Nodding eagerly, he turned towards the group menacingly. “Stop.” I ordered before he could do anything else. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Arthu-“ Cassidy started, but I held up a hand to stop her.

“In a minute.” Carefully, while holding back tears, I picked up Lucia in a princess carry as I ignored the group. “Hey, baby girl.” Placing my forehead against hers, I spoke. “We’re gonna get you better.”

Walking back through the trees, they closed behind me once more. “Mara?” Marina whispered in surprise as she swam closer. “Let me see.” Putting her down on the edge of her lake, Marina looked her over. “No… Not Mara…” Her eyes glanced up at me. “Is she…?”

Closing my eyes, I felt my lip tremble. “Can you help her? Please?”

“You should be aware my ‘help’ is limited. My lake is special. It is the reason my healing powers are so extraordinary.” The mermaid explained. “Unfortunately, it has a limited number of uses. Do you-“

“Yes.”

Marina bobbed her head in understanding. “As you wish. You will need to join me. I doubt she can survive underwater like you can. Even the depths might be a bit much for her. Can you keep her breathing?”

I raised a brow at that. “Can you not heal her here?”

She shook her head. “No. We need to go to the depths of my lake. That is where my healing is strongest. Given her state, this will be rather jarring for her. I will try to avoid her lungs.” Her hands glowed as she ran them over Lucia’s body. “They don’t seem to be damaged anyway.” Then she turned to me. “Not like someone’s who were ripped to shreds.”

“Is this safe?” I asked. “Lucia-“

Marina cut me off. “Will be fine. You were a bit of a special case, but I don’t plan on being so extreme. Most of your injuries were internal, and you were essentially a walking corpse.” She then gestured to the High Elf. “Whereas ‘Lucia,’ as you call her, has obviously been tortured. These wounds are superficial compared to yours.” Motioning to me, she shrugged. “As I said before, no one else would’ve been able to survive inhaling Demon Stone.”

After a moment, I took a breath and nodded. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“First, you need to hop back into the water.” Doing as instructed, Marina waited for me to move beside her. “Can you hold her as we go down? Her wounds are serious, so we’ll move slowly. It will be a bit of a process. Will you be able to hold on that long, or is your energy low?”

Reaching out, I pulled Lucia into the water carefully as she floated in my arms. Her hair touched the water, and red instantly began to appear. The blood in her hair and her body started to taint the water. It made me want to cry. Marina came over to place a hand on her forehead before she looked at me. We slowly moved away from the edge, but she made no other moves as she waited for me to answer.

“Yeah. I can handle it.” I replied as I looked over at Lucia.

“Alright. Hold on to her.” Marina warned me as a vortex started to form before it turned into a whirlpool. “Keep her steady.”

“Uh…” Was the only thing I was able to utter as we were sucked down.